


Mistletoe

by SunMonTue



Series: Tree Without Blossoms [4]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:37:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunMonTue/pseuds/SunMonTue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is focused on Mercedes & Mike an OC at Christmas in Lima in 2025. Follow on from "Cherry Blossom" or companion piece to Chapter 13 of "Tree without Blossoms". Kurtcedes friendship and Burt Hummel to be found here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Italiano available: [Mistletoe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6005602) by [ShallICompareThee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShallICompareThee/pseuds/ShallICompareThee)



> This will make no sense if you have not read either "Cherry Blossom" or "Tree without Blossom". This is focussed on Mercedes & Mike (an OC, not Mike Chang) at Christmas in Lima in 2025. There is a fair bit of Mercedes/Kurt interaction and friendship, so if you've only read Cherry Blossom you'll be fine, but it fits in best as a companion piece to Chapter 13 of "Tree Without Blossoms", however this switches between Mike, Mercedes, Kurt, Burt, so it's definitely separate. Nothing explicit. (Sorry). Still some swearing and mature themes (like sex and drinking). Mention of past character death.
> 
> If you've only read Cherry Blossom, here's what you need to know: Dave and Mike are best friends. Dave and Kurt are together (kind of, almost) and Dave has let slip to Kurt that Mike intends to propose to Mercedes.
> 
> This is so fluffy it might rot your teeth. But I wrote one bit and cried my eyes out.

**MISTLETOE**

**December 2025**

For reasons that elude her, Kurt had wanted to know her holiday plans.  _All_  her holiday plans. Down to the last minute detail as to when she was leaving Chicago to drive to Lima and how many nights she's staying. He  _knew_  Mike was coming, but when she'd mentioned it again he'd made a little gasping sound, before explaining hurriedly that he'd just seen a pair of boots he just had to have. Which was odd, because there hadn't been a shoe shop in sight. She suspects he's planning something, but has no idea what, and Dave's in on it, because he'd just looked ridiculously guilty when she'd mentioned Kurt's crazy-arse behaviour in passing at dinner last Friday.

Mike thinks she's imagining it, says that maybe there's something there, but what can she do? It's Kurt. And that's the biggest argument he has, because Kurt can be slightly crazy, but she knows he would do anything for her, and if he's planning some weird surprise, well, she's bound to love it. He's made her promise three hours of her time on the morning of the twenty-forth. She'd hesitated, not really wanting to leave Mike at the mercy of not only her dad, but his brothers and cousins and parents. But Kurt had an answer for that too. Dave. Dave will be in Lima and he can rescue Mike from impending death by nosey well-meaning relatives. So she'd agreed. Reluctantly and curious, because she hates  _not knowing._

It had been a bit weird having Kurt in Chicago, but not staying with her. It had made her feel a bit nostalgic for her high school days, having impromptu meet ups and dinners together, this time dragging along their respective boyfriend and  _not-boyfriend_. Although she doesn't believe that for a second, because even Mike has made a passing comment along the lines of ' _they're kind of crazy in love aren't they…'_  And she can't bring herself to disagree, because the looks they give each other, it's sweet and cute and, at times, pornographic… But Kurt had still insisted that it's complicated. She's pretty certain it's complicated only because Kurt's either being deliberately obtuse or is truly unaware of how smitten he's become…that she's a bit hazy on. She has a sneaking suspicion that he's actually completely clueless.

Thoughts of Kurt and Dave's relationship melt away as she turns the car into her street, butterflies taking flight in her stomach. She hasn't bought anyone home to meet her family in  _years_. They all know how significant this is, and are no doubt all waiting inside, ready to pounce on Mike and no doubt rip him to shreds. At least that's how she's picturing it in her mind, and Mike has spent the five hour drive reassuring her that she's being a tad melodramatic and maybe she should stop channelling Kurt, but she's worried.

Her dad has always been protective, and since her mom died he's become even more-so. She's not sure what she'll do if he doesn't like Mike. Not that there's anything to not like, but her dad might just…not like him. She's terrified of that scenario, admitted in a quiet whisper to Kurt over coffee on Saturday. Kurt had choked but then said she shouldn't worry, that Mike would charm her dad, and he wouldn't be able to not like someone who so clearly loved his daughter. She'd blushed at that, remembering that Kurt could be a complete charmer when he wanted to be, but also hoping that he's right.

* * *

Kurt has been bubbling with excitement since Dave let it slip. When Dave had ( _eventually_ ) remembered he'd let slip, he'd made Kurt promise not to tell Mercedes. And he's held true to that promise, and not told  _anyone_. And that includes his Dad, or Cassie, or his hairdresser.  _No one_. He feels like he is literally bursting with highly-confidential information. So he can't tell Mercedes, but he's doing the best next thing, and that's making sure her hands look _fantastic_  when Mike slips that ring on her finger. Of course, he's doing it under the guise of a Christmas present, booking her in for a full beauty treatment, so he's sure she has no idea.

He's treating himself as well, because he has only three days in Lima before having to go back to LA on the first flight on the twenty-seventh, and even Lima has moved with the times enough that he can book himself in for a massage and not get any ' _is this for your wife sir'_  comments. Despite his Pilates and running his back has twinged this morning, reminding him why he dislikes flying so much. And even though he spent a fair bit of time with Mercedes last week, he's looking forward to hanging out with her again today. The fact that their lives are relatively drama free at the moment makes a nice change to the usual status quo.

* * *

Mike's pretty sure he's about to throw up. He has thirty minutes before Dave is due to pick him up, and he needs to get this conversation out of the way. Mercedes has already been ferried away by a grinning and far too excitable Kurt (and that boy better keep his mouth  _shut_ ). His actions tomorrow hinge completely on what Mr Jones says to him, and he feels old fashioned and out-of-date, and worried that he's going to say or ask the wrong thing…

"Mr Jones, I'd like to talk to you…"

Mercedes' father turns a level gaze on him and Mike tries to stand still, not betray how nervous he's feeling. When they'd met yesterday the man had been quiet, watching, and had made no offer to Mike to call him anything but Mr Jones. Mike can work with that. Mercedes' uncles and grandparents are all watching him, and he's starting to understand why Mercy was so nervous about leaving him alone. He's being measured.

"Sure. We can go into my den…"

Mike follows him, and the den is where he's been set up on an airbed to sleep, which he's fine with, but it reminds him that he's on this man's home turf. He runs through what he wants to say, trying it for size. He's not wanting to ask for permission, because he's going to ask her anyway, but he does want this man's approval…

"I'd…I'd like to ask for your blessing. I want to ask Mercedes to marry me…"

"Hmph. Why?"

"Why? Well, your blessing would mean a lot to Mercedes, so it means a lot to me."

"No, not  _that_. Why do you want to marry her?"

"Oh. Apart from loving her?" He gets a short sharp nod and Mike tries to relax. Takes a deep breath. He's practised this answer too. "I…she's become one of my best friends. She makes me laugh. She makes me a better person. Did you know it took nearly three months of me asking before she agreed to go for coffee?"

Mr Jones stares at the ceiling, and Mike's pretty sure the man is smiling.

"Good. That's good. I like that. You persevered, and she's stubborn but you knew, didn't you?"

"Knew that she's stubborn? Or that she'd be worth it?" Mike replies, and  _fuck,_ he didn't mean to sound flippant or like he doesn't care,  _fuck_ …but her dad is laughing, either at him, or what he's said, but he doesn't care. Laughter is good. He hopes _._

"Either. Both," Mr Jones says, and he sits down on the side of the sofa and Mike relaxes slightly.

"I knew. About both. She's amazing and wonderful and I want to make her smile every day…"

"You make her happy."

"I try. She makes me happy, so…it's easy to reflect that back to her."

"Hmm… well. If she says yes, you have my blessing."

Mike's stomach freezes. He's not actually seriously considered that she might say no. He's mentioned it jokingly in passing to Dave, but nothing he's thought seriously. They've not talked about marriage. The future? Yes. Moving in together? Definitely discussed. Marriage? Not even joked about.

"Don't worry son, she'll say yes…"

"I…I really hope so sir."

"Call me Steve."

* * *

Dave is enjoying himself, although it feels a bit odd spending time with Mike in Lima. It's like two worlds overlapping. He's invited Az to join them playing pool, and then get an early lunch before Mike has to pick up Mercedes. They've hit it off immediately, which doesn't surprise him, simply because Mike is the type of person that puts everyone at ease. Another reason why he makes a great doctor.

They're playing off against each other, one watching while the other two play, with the winner playing the guy waiting. So far Dave hasn't actually played against Az, because Mike is something of a pool-shark, and could probably pay against the both of them and still win. He's tried to teach Dave more than once, telling him it's all about angles and trajectory, and he should be better because he's good at maths. He mocks Dave when he misses an easy shot and Dave gives him the finger. When they eventually leave the pool hall Mike remains undefeated, and he's been upbeat since Dave picked him up, and Dave hadn't needed to ask to know that the talk with Mercedes' dad went well.

"Oh look… you're like the cream filling in an oreo…" Mike says, tweaking his cheek as he sits down beside him in the booth at Cookies, effectively sandwiching him between Mike and Az.

"Oh fuck off…" Dave replies and elbows Mike hard enough to jostle him and spill his drink. Mike just laughs, and Dave restrains from making any sort of sexual innuendo, figuring Az is probably uncomfortable enough as it is. He'd stiffened slightly at Mike's comment, but not moved away. Dave doesn't take it personally, the fact that he's sitting here at all is a massive step forward, and it's clear he's working on it. Mike gets up to go and get napkins to mop up his drink and Azimio is watching him. Dave keeps quite.

"He seems like a good guy…"

"Mike? Yeah. He is a good guy."

"And he's…okay with you being gay?"

"I… _yeah_. I mean, he wouldn't be my best friend if he wasn't," Dave states, and he sees the flash of pain on Az's face and feels bad. "His older brother is gay, so he just views it as a fact. He's black. I'm gay."

"You guys seem tight."

"Yeah, been friends since college. See each other at least twice a week…"

"So, what's he doing in Lima?"

"Oh, he's dating Mercedes Jones. Remember her?"

"Mercedes Jones…oh yeah, I remember her. So, she in Chicago then?"

"Yep. Goes to the same church as Mike, that's how they met…"

"You talking 'bout Mercy?" Mike asks, setting down another drink and a handful of napkins. Dave nods and steals the drink, taking a long sip before sliding it back across to him. It's Mike's turn to give him the finger and Dave chuckles.

"You're buying the next round," Mike mutters and Dave shrugs good naturedly.

Conversation stalls for a little bit, and it's a bit uncomfortable, Dave not sure what to say and he's pretty sure Mike has exhausted all topics of conversation in the last two hours. He's comfortable in silence with Mike, but Az is looking a bit lost, so he asks about AJ, and that just makes him light up. It sets the ball rolling again, and conversation flows after that. Their food arrives and then Mike is saying they have to leave. Before he leaves he feels Az's hand on his arm and he stops, turning, Mike ahead by several feet.

"I…I wanted to say that I'm glad you've got such a good friend…you deserve one."

His hand drops from Dave's arm, and he crosses his arms, suddenly defensive. Dave smiles ruefully and shrugs.

"A guy needs more than one friend Z."

* * *

Burt Hummel is not what he'd been expecting. He's not sure what he'd been expecting really, the way Dave's spoken of him Mike had been expecting someone…well, more intimidating maybe, but instead he's face-to-face with this friendly open-faced and overly normal looking guy. He introduces himself and is ushered inside before being offered a hot drink. He's given directions to Kurt's room, where apparently Kurt and Mercedes have regressed to being teenagers and are having a fashion show and singing. He figures that's a good sign, because he's pretty sure they'd be going through wedding magazines if Kurt had said anything.

When he knocks on the door he's not ready for what confronts him. They're both dressed in matching…space suits? Dresses? He's not entirely sure. Mercedes' outfit seems to fit her perfectly, where Kurt's outfit isn't done up properly, he obviously grown taller and broader since whenever he wore this last, although maybe it's Mercedes? He has no idea. On closer inspection the outfits aren't the same, just the colour is similar. Silver. He's fascinated, they're singing, and their voices sound fantastic together. He's heard Mercy sing before, she's in the church choir, and she sings under her breath all the time, and music is just such a massive part of her, her life and her job. Kurt though, his voice is amazing, and together they just sound breath taking. He waits for the song to come to an end (he wouldn't be able to name it if his life depended on it) and coughs, drawing their attention.

"Do I need a change of clothes before I can enter?" Mike asks, and the grin he gets from Mercedes makes his entire body thrum with warmth and happiness.

"Hey! We've just been playing dress-up…" Mercedes says, and she looks happy, relaxed and completely at ease.  _Beautiful_ his mind supplies.

"Yep, if you'd been here twenty minutes ago you would have seen us in our old cheer leading uniforms…"

"You were a cheerleader?" Mike asks, and damn it, he knows he shouldn't be interested in that, but it had kind of been his fantasy all through high school to have a cheerleader girlfriend, and instead he'd been in the math club, and science club and he knows Dave had sex before he did, because he was even more painfully shy then Dave.

"Uh huh. Should I be taking that particular outfit home with me should I?" Mercedes asks, and she's grinning delightedly and he can see Kurt pulling a face.

"Ew. You guys are sweet and in love and everything, but no mention of hetero sex in my bedroom. Out out out…" Kurt directs, , but he says it with a wide grin and an arm around Mercedes shoulders.

"Can I get changed first?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. We need to get out of these…"

"Give us a couple of minutes," Mercedes says, and she pushes him back into the hallway, closing the door in his face. He stares at it bemusedly and shrugs, turning to find Burt Hummel watching him.

"If my son were straight I'm pretty sure that would be my daughter-in-law in there…"

"Yeah, probably. They have a special bond…I'm jealous of it sometimes."

"Hmm. They've been through a lot together. Kurt speaks pretty highly of you though. He's a pretty good judge of character…"

Mike laughs, because he remembers the first time he met Kurt, the straight-up talking-to he had gotten.

"Yeah, he is. He doesn't put up with any er…thing," Mike says, and Burt grins at him, obviously figuring what he was going to say.

"No. No he doesn't. He's always been fairly strong willed. Same as Mercedes."

Mike laughs again, because he's right. He's starting to like Kurt's dad, and he can see where Kurt gets some of his personality traits from.

"Are you talking about us?" Kurt asks, opening the door and peering out at them.

"Me? Never…" Burt says, and he winks at Mike before heading up the hallway.

* * *

Burt Hummel studies at the man in front of him. He recognises him, but can't place him, and the younger man seems unaccountably nervous.

"Uh, Hello Mr Hummel sir. Um. I'm here to pick up Kurt?"

It's voiced as a question, as if he either isn't sure that's what he's here for, or if he's asking for permission to do so.

"Are you? You don't sound so sure of that…" Burt replies, and the man in front of him looks like he's almost trembling. "You one of Kurt's friends from high school?"

"Uh, no. Not exactly. I'm Dave Karofsky."

Burt frowns. He recognises the name, but he's not sure why. He remembers most of the people that are important to Kurt, even some of the ones that aren't important but Kurt complains about.

"Right. Nice to meet you," Burt says, reaching out to shake the man's hand, because he's just realised that this might be a new boyfriend. Huh. It's a nice firm grip and Burt nods minutely, he's always approved of nice firm handshakes. "Kurt! Dave's here!"

"Yeah yeah…I heard the doorbell!" Kurt calls back and Burt watches Dave hide a small smile, and there's  _definitely_ something going on there, and when that tiny smile breaks into a full-blown one when his son enters the room he  _knows_  there is more than something, because this man is  _clearly_  besotted with his son.

He's a bit worried, because maybe Kurt has been talking about this guy and he hasn't been listening… but no, he's very conscious of making sure he pays attention when Kurt talks, even the boring bits. And then he has it, this is the guy that picked him up from the airport last night, that's the only Dave Kurt has mentioned recently, so it has to be him. He catches Kurt looking between himself and this Dave.

"Look. He didn't kill you…" Kurt says, and he grins like it it's a huge joke. Burt watches Kurt give the guy a peck on the cheek, which just confirms everything, and if that didn't, the way the guy has almost gone as red as the Santa decoration hanging on the door behind him…well. He finds it odd that Kurt hasn't told him about a new boyfriend though, because he  _wouldn't_  have missed that, and explains why the guy seems so nervous. They make their goodbyes pretty quickly, and he stares at the closed door for a few seconds before going and making himself comfortable on the sofa.

"Who was at the door?" Carol asks, coming in to the lounge carrying two mugs.

"Hmm? Oh, Dave. Kurt's gone out with him…"

"Dave Karofsky? There's a boy that's come a long way…" Carol murmurs, srtting the mugs on the coffee table before settling into his side and making herself comfortable, feet lying atop his on the footrest.

"What do you mean?" Burt asks, resting his head on hers, watching the lights on the tree twinkle, steam curl up from his mug and his heart is content.

"Well, from being such a bully in school…he's really grown up. Matured. I talked to his mom a couple of months back. Finn used to be friends with him back in grade school…"

"Wait. David Karofsky? Karofsky. The kid that used to bully Kurt? Threatened to kill him?"

"Shhshhshh…they were kids Burt. And from what Kurt has told me about the bullying?" She sighs then, and Burt wants to know what she knows. What Kurt has talked to her about. "Dave was scared and worried and afraid. It doesn't excuse his actions, but it does explain them. Finn's actions? Pee balloons and tossing people in dumpsters and…Well, they were all kids, but the things they did…Finn was going along with the crowd and making unwise choices. I'm sure you can relate from when you were at school."

Burt grumps, because she has a point, but he's suddenly irrationally worried that his son is out with a guy that once threatened to kill him. Except… he's pretty sure that same guy is head-over-heels in love with Kurt now. That trumps some words said nearly fifteen years ago when he was a kid. He relaxes back into the sofa and lets out a long breath. He's got some questions to ask tomorrow though.

* * *

This time of year is always hard. Her mom was a Christmas fanatic, decorating every available surface and changing the bed covers to specially made Christmas quilts. Their house had always felt like a type of Christmas grotto, and she'd loved it growing up. There are still decorations up, but her Grandma has done most of it. Her dad is watching her from across the room, and he smiles at her softly before nodding his head in the direction of his den. She nods and stands, quickly clasping Mike's hand before leaving him to Uncle Alan's questions about his hernias. Although what a paediatric cardiologist would know about hernias she has no idea. She pulls the door to the den closed and sits beside her dad on his sofa.

"You okay baby girl?"

"More than okay dad…"

"Your mom would have liked him…" her dad says, and it's the best praise he could give, because her mom was a lot harder to impress.  
"I like to think so…he's…pretty special."

"So are you baby girl…"

"You're supposed to think that…"

"Hmm. Well, I think he thinks so too, so…I like him too."

"Thanks dad…I…that means a lot."

"You just be happy okay? And as long as he makes you happy, then I like him."

Mercedes laughs, stretching her arms around her dad and hugging him tightly, but she's crying too, because she's never going to talk to her mom about Mike, and complain about whatever nasty habits Mike has, like her mom always complained about her dad to her.

"I miss her," Mercedes whispers, and her dad's arms tighten around her.

"Me too baby girl. Every day."

"I love you dad…"

"Love you too baby girl. Always."

* * *

Mike hasn't exactly planned  _how,_ nothing other than  _today_. Although he's doubting that now as well. He's not sure whether to do it front of her entire family, or go for a quiet walk in the snow or just pretend he's sick and hide in the bathroom all day. Which wouldn't exactly be mature, but doesn't stop him feeling like he's going to throw up. Mercy is sitting on a sofa on the opposite side of the room, singing a song to her nieces and nephews, making hand gestures that match the words as she sings. She looks up and catches his eye, smiling, but not stopping and he smiles back. His chest feels tight and warm and achy, and then her grandfather is elbowing him.

"Stop wasting time boy-o, I'm not getting any younger…"

"I…you  _know_?" Mike asks, voice dropping into a horrified whisper, and he gets a mischievous grin back coupled with some gleeful hand rubbing.

"No secrets in  _this_  family boy-o. Now come on, we're all waiting…"

 _Oh fuck_. He looks around the room and sure enough, all eyes are either on him, or switching between him and Mercedes, and they're all pretty much grinning at him. Waiting.  _Oh fuck_. He doesn't have time to loose now, he'd wanted it to be a surprise, and up until right now his biggest worry had been Kurt. But this is a roomful of twenty or so people, and it explains why everyone has crammed in here until it's almost standing room only. They don't want to miss it.

"I'll be right back…" Mike mutters, and he leaves the room quickly, and his first stop is to step outside and take some deep cold breaths of icy-cold air. He steps back inside and Mercedes is waiting for him.

"You okay? My family isn't getting to you are they?"

"I…I'm fine. You're family are fine. I just…needed a second."

"I…Mike. You're lying. Don't lie to me…don't  _ever_  lie to me. I can handle it if you don't like my family. I won't like it, but I can manage it. Just… _tell me._ "

"I love you Mercedes Jones, and believe me when I say I like your family. They seem perfectly normal. Like my family."

"Your family is crazy…" Mercedes mutters, and Mike laughs, because he agrees.

"Exactly my point…"

"You sure you're okay though?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just, go wait for me back in there, I'm just going to go get my camera from my room…"

"Okay…"

Mike doesn't waste any time. The ring is in his camera case, a camera he hardly ever uses now, but he takes out the little red box, checks the ring is still inside, and grips it firmly. He's doing this. He's really doing this.

Steve is waiting by the doorjamb, and he gives his shoulder a firm squeeze and nods his head, and when his eyes go to Mercedes she's watched their exchange with widening eyes and her mouth has dropped open slightly and Mike grins, suddenly unable to not be excited about what he is about to do. He doesn't bother hiding the ring box, everyone in the room is grinning widely, some of the women hands are clasped over their mouths and he's pretty sure Mercedes has just twigged as to exactly what's about to happen.

He moves to stand in front of her and holds her gaze as he lowers himself to his knees, because he will worship this woman. He opens the ring box and holds it up to her, and she's just staring at him, eyes filled with tears, hand clasped over her mouth.

"I love you. I want to have everything with you. A life. A family. A future. Will you marry me?"

She doesn't answer verbally, instead she's nodding frantically and Mike stands, kissing her, and her family are clapping and cat-calling and it's  _good_. He slips the ring onto her finger, and it slips into place. She hasn't even looked at it yet, instead just focussed solely on him, her arms wrapped around him tightly.

"Love you," Mercedes finally manages to get out, and he wipes away some of the tears.

"Love you too. So much."

She rests her head against him briefly, and he tries to ignore the fact that her entire family are watching, but she pulls away abruptly, eyes wide.

"I have to ring Kurt!"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Um…but he already knows…"

" _What?"_  Huh. Maybe he should have kept quiet on that fact. He tugs her out of the room, smiling at the family members who can tell are just waiting for them to break apart and offer their congratulations.

"Um. Dave knew and let it slip last week…by  _accident._ "

"But…he's my best friend…"

"Dave swore him to secrecy."

"I don't care! He still should have hinted at it or something!"

"It was meant to be a surprise. I wanted it to be a surprise. Kurt respected that. Was happy with me to do this for you…Anyway, if you knew Dave was planning on proposing to Kurt, would you tell him?"

"Wait,  _what_? Is he planning on proposing?"

"What? NO! No! Completely hypothetical… shit. He's not planning anything, they're still all…complicated or whatever they're calling it now."

"Augh. Don't get me started on that. They're both idiots…completely blind to how they feel, let alone how the other feels…"

Mike frowns, because he's pretty sure Dave knows exactly how he feels, although he doesn't know Kurt well enough to make a call.

"Uh, Kurt might have been a little slow on the uptake, but Dave knows how he feels. I mean, he's a shrink… he talks about how he feels all the time…"

"Wait. What? I thought Dave was a cop…"

"Huh? Oh, he is. He just…he's a psychologist first. Fully registered and everything."

"You two going to stop yapping long enough for us to actually talk to ya?" Mercedes' grandfather asks, and with that they're drawn back in to the lounge with talk of wedding dates and plans and ' _welcome to the family'_ s.

* * *

The next evening Kurt's been given the full story, after first being given a tight hug from her along with a whispered  _'I can't believe you managed to keep it a secret._ ' He's grinning at her though, admiring the ring, and she has to admit it looks perfect on her hand, not a single solitaire or block of colour, but what looks like a little rainbow, sparkling away on her finger. She's impressed with Mike's choice, because she loves it, and she'd have had no idea where to start if he'd decided to take her shopping instead.

"So, were you surprised then?" Kurt asks.

"Completely. I just thought my family was freaking him out, and that you," she pokes Kurt in the side "had just taken some crazy pills or something."

"Good to know I can always rely on that as a defence if I need to," Kurt replies, taking a delicate sip of his water.

They've ended up in Cookies, the upmarket bar with decent food for dinner. Somehow they've ended up as a largeish group again, with Santana and Kate, Finn and his wife Melanie, Noah and most surprisingly, Azimio Adams, whom Mike had greeted like an old friend. Which had been weird. When he'd made a stilted apology for being such a jerk in high school she'd kind of felt like she'd stepped into an alternate reality, but a nudge from Mike had her nodding her acceptance of his apology.

The conversation flows, Dave and Mike planning on turning Dave's New Year's party into an engagement party instead, which should make for an interesting evening considering their group of friends. She'll have a more quiet, subdued celebration with Kurt and maybe her friends Paula and Phoebe in Chicago. And her cousin Mara if she's feeling particularly adventurous. She pays attention to the conversation again, Noah and Azimio are talking about someone called AJ while Santana, Kate and Melanie are talking about baking, which just adds weight to her alternate reality theory, because the idea of Santana baking  _anything_  is a bit scary.

She watches Dave stand, sees Kurt's eyes flick to his arse and then away, and she sees Mike hide a grin, he's seen it too. He grasps her hand under the table, giving it a quick squeeze, and she likes these little silent forms of communication between them

"Hey, can you look after these? Just going to the bathroom…" Dave asks, and he passes Kurt his phone and wallet before leaning down to brush a kiss across Kurt's cheek, and Mercedes mouth drops open.

She looks around the table, to see whether anyone else has noticed the exchange. Noah's eyebrows have shot up and then immediately started snickering until Santana pokes him in the side with her fork. Mike is looking ridiculously smug about it, and even Azimio's eyes had followed Dave, looked at Kurt and then nodded, as if he'd just gotten the answer to something. The only person who hasn't noticed is Finn, who seems intent on picking off the salt crystals on a pretzel, completely oblivious to the exchange that just happened between his brother and Dave. Kurt seems to be ignoring everyone, intent on Dave's phone in his hands.

And she knows it wasn't a big overt display of affection, but it was so damn domestic and couple-ish. She doesn't think either of them is even aware of how it would have looked to outsiders. Santana doesn't look surprised; in fact, she could join Mike in the  _far too smug for their own good_  category. Az has made some comment about the number four, and Mike is agreeing, and she has no idea what they're talking about. She leans back in her chair, giving up on the complications of Kurt's love life for now, because right now, hers is perfect.


End file.
